


Falling into the Stars

by Gnomad



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling, Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Community: snarry_games, Crossover, M/M, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-18
Updated: 2009-11-18
Packaged: 2017-10-03 07:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gnomad/pseuds/Gnomad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A risky bit of magic goes horribly wrong and lands Snape and Harry in a place they never intended to be. Or to put it more succinctly: Snape and Harry! In <em>space</em>!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling into the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2009 Snarry Games competition. I'd like to thank my lovely and speedy betas, treewishes (who very generously listened to me whine and did not laugh at my pain too much) and leela_cat. Any remaining mistakes are my own. I'd also like to thank the Snarry Games mods, who are the definition of patience and class, and somehow manage to put up with me year after year.

'Snape!' Harry called as he pounded on the door of Spinner's End. 'Snape! Come on! I know you're in there.'

The interior was silent, but Harry knew Snape was home. He prepared to bang on the door again, but heard the noise that signalled Snape's march to the entrance. Harry stepped back just as the wooden door jerked violently off its frame and a peeved-looking Snape came rushing out. He sneered at Harry as he passed but otherwise ignored the fact that someone had been banging at his door for the last five minutes. Par for the course, Harry thought.

'You can't actually be serious about going through with this spell—ritual—thing. Hermione only mentioned it as a joke,' Harry called after him.

Snape was surprisingly fast for someone who could only bear to be upright and moving for about six hours a day, but Harry caught up with him easily. 'It's dangerous! You could get killed. Again!'

'Go away, Potter,' Snape shot back without breaking his stilted stride. 'Your persistent presence in my life is both unwarranted, and more importantly, unwelcome.'

Harry reached out and caught Snape's shoulder with the intent of turning him around. His touch was light, but enough to unbalance the already weakened Snape and make him stumble.

Snape scowled and jerked away from Harry. It had the effect Harry wanted, however, and they both came to a stop in the middle of street.

'Given your inability to comprehend concepts more complicated than those included in a first-year curriculum, you can't honestly believe I would discuss the intricacies and probabilities of a successful Starlight Ritual with you.'

'You're going to hurt yourself even worse than you are now,' Harry countered. Snape stood uncomfortably still next to him and Harry noted that blood was beginning to seep through the bandages wrapped tightly around his neck.

'There is a chance it will work,' Snape said finally, 'and tonight's astronomical conditions, while not ideal, are good enough to make the attempt.'

'Good enough?' Harry replied, doubt clear in his voice. Much as he was loathe to admit it, Snape's earlier barb was mostly right; he was crap at magical theory. Hermione was brilliant at it though, and she had told him the ritual was both dangerous and unlikely to work. The thought that Snape could do even more serious damage to himself than what he was already enduring sent a frisson of worry through Harry. 'There has to be some other way of healing the rest of the curse damage.'

'There isn't.'

Snape looked down at his clenched fists and Harry's eyes followed. Snape's clenched fists were vibrating with violent, barely contained tremors.

Snape sighed and looked resigned.

'Go home, Potter. I have been fending for myself since long before you were born, and I remain capable of doing so. I don't need your pity, your guilt, or your misplaced hero complex.'

Harry flushed but otherwise didn't reply. It wasn't true, of course. He didn't want to help him out of any sense of obligation or guilt. His feelings for Snape in the weeks following the Battle of Hogwarts were far more complicated, and seemed to change every time they saw each other. Sure, there was pity and guilt that day when he watched Snape bleed out on the floor of the Shrieking Shack and when he was forced to live Snape's life through his Pensieve memories. But when Harry learned later that Snape had managed to survive—broken and cursed, but _alive_, by god—Harry felt relief and pride and pure joy. And now, well, now after watching Snape recover over the past few months as they all dealt with the aftermath of the war, he thought his feelings might be transforming further.

'I could help,' Harry's voice rose up in question rather than the declarative he wanted it to be. 'Hold things steady, maybe?'

Snape looked like he was going to refuse Harry again, but after a moment he grabbed Harry's arm and they Disapparated before Harry could even think to ask where they were going.

They landed on the top of a small hill in the middle of a grassy moorland. The sun's last tendrils of light were flickering along the western horizon as the night sky pushed up from the east. Beside him, Snape dug awkwardly through the satchel he carried across his shoulder until he found a phial filled with what looked like ash.

He shoved the phial at Harry. 'Hold that. If you drop it, I will use your burnt corpse to refill it.'

The tremor in Snape's outstretched hand belied the threat, but Harry gratefully snatched the phial and held it close without comment. Snape continued to dig through the bag until he pulled out a long silver knife. He paused for a moment to glance at the eastern sky, now awash with evening stars, before taking the knife and drawing a long, thin cut across his palm.

Harry gasped, and Snape shot him a baleful look.

'Open it up and hold it here.'

It took Harry a moment to realize Snape was talking about the phial, but then he quickly fumbled with the stopper, finding it difficult to take his eyes off the blood cupped in Snape's palm. A well-placed glare propelled him into more focused action, however, and he thrust the phial at Snape who tipped the welling blood into the ash.

Snape let the blood drip until it slowed and the phial was nearly full, then squeezed his hand into a fist for a moment before dropping the knife back into his bag and pulling out his wand to heal the cut. He then reached up and loosened the bandage at his neck. The spotted cloth unravelled with a tug and fell away to reveal the swollen, torn up mess that was Snape's throat. The wounds were still as gruesome as the day they were given to him, Harry noted. Nagini's poison and the Horcrux she protected wielded a dangerous curse that not even Snape and his preventative anti-venom potions could counteract.

'Now give that to me and take your pity over there.' Snape pointed to a spot about fifteen feet away.

'What? What happens now?' Harry didn't like the idea of being out of range should something happen to Snape. Snape, of course, did not appropriately appreciate his concern.

'Now, I finish the ritual and you _go over there_,' Snape gritted out. 'Potter, as you've taken great pains to follow me around and remind me, this is a very delicate and powerful spell. I will not allow it to fail simply because you've decided to become clingy. Now, give me the damn mixture and stand back, you imbecile.'

'Fine.' Harry huffed and pushed the phial at Snape who took it with a trembling hand. Harry spun around and stomped over to his designated spot, crossing his arms in annoyance.

In the increasing twilight, he had to squint to see Snape dip his finger in bloody mixture on his finger and begin smearing it onto the wounds on his mangled neck. Snape muttered in Latin as he drew, the chant quick and flat and punctuated by his quick movements, continuing steadily until his chest, his neck, even the sides of his face were marked in runes of blood and ash. Then, with the last drops of blood, Snape touched his finger directly to the wounds on his neck; Harry heard a faint hiss of pain. The pause was brief, however, and Snape drew a final rune and ended his chant.

He pocketed the phial and retrieved his wand once more, pausing briefly to look at Harry. Their gazes connected for a moment before Snape nodded once and began.

He touched each of the runes one at a time with his wand while intoning _Astrum lumen purgo. Astrum lumen vigoratus_.

Though he started quietly, the smooth voice picked up strength and grew in volume with each repetition. He stared intently at the eastern sky and as he got closer and closer to the runes around his neck Harry felt a strong, electrical magic wrapping around them like a heavy, itchy blanket, prickling his skin and making his hair stand on end. He shivered when a sudden breeze whistled through the grasses and amplified Snape's spell like a _sonorous_ charm booming out across the moor.

_Astrum lumen purgo. Astrum lumen vigoratus._ _Astrum lumen purgo. Astrum lumen vigoratus._

With a breath, Snape touched his wand to the final rune, the one directly over top of the puncture wounds.

_Astrum lumen purgo. Astrum lumen vigoratus._

At once, the stars above them flared unnaturally bright, brighter than Harry had ever seen them before, lighting up Snape, the hill, the whole moor like a floodlight from the heavens. He realized too that the light emanated not only from the stars but from the western horizon where the sunlight had faded a few minutes before. He tried to look back and see, but at that moment Snape let out a bloodcurdling, primal scream and Harry watched in horror as his body seized in a rictus of pain, arching unnaturally toward the stars as though his neck was being pulled by an invisible hook. Each of the blood runes burned a deep, glowing blue across his face, neck, and chest, and Harry could've sworn they pulsed in time with the light in the sky.

Something wasn't right. Hermione hadn't described anything like this. Harry was fumbling for his wand when he saw Snape's feet lift from the ground and a renewed scream leave his throat.

'No!' Harry ran to him, heedless of the magic around them, heedless of the blazing starlight.

He threw his arms around Snape and pulled him back, furiously trying to think of a way to make it all stop, but in that moment the sky lit up to the brightness of a hundred suns and Harry's world exploded around him.

——-

'Captain, I recommend we proceed with caution in our questioning. The presence of these men on the planet is both unexplained and suspicious, given our proximity to the Neutral Zone and Starfleet's interest in the planet's natural resources.'

'Spock, you always recommend we proceed with caution. The day you don't recommend proceeding with caution is the day I work Alpha shift while naked and singing traditional Andorian folk tunes. Can't we just assume that recommendation at this point?'

'Under other leadership, I would agree; however, you have a long and consistent record of disregarding your own personal safety in potentially dangerous situations, making such recommendations a necessary, although perhaps futile, exercise.'

'Is this about Epsilat-7? Still? Because I apologized for that. Like I told you then, I was just trying to keep the governor busy while Sulu tracked down the installation's power source. How was I supposed to know passing a drink with your left hand was an invitation to duel?'

'Epsilat-7 is just one example in a pattern of cavalier behaviour upon which this recommendation—'

'Nnnnnnnnnnngh.' The world, Harry decided, was entirely too bright for this hour of the day. He didn't know exactly what hour of the day it was, but regardless, it was too bright. It was also entirely too loud. Where was Madam Pomfrey when he needed someone to shoo these people out of the hospital wing?

'Hey, easy, kid. You've got a bad bump on your head and need to lie still for a while.' Despite the admonishment, the gruff, masculine voice sounded warm and a little amused. The accent was not British, but American with a bit of a drawl. Definitely not Madam Pomfrey then. He tried to open his eyes but the lights were too harsh. A louder groan became an excellent idea.

'Nnnnnnnnnnngh.' The man seemed to move away and the voices around him got louder as he lay there. He tried to identify anyone familiar but couldn't.

'Bones, can we talk to them? It's not every day two guys randomly appear on an uninhabited planet right after the Federation decides to scout it for dilithium. We need to know what their deal is.' Harry's fuzzy brain realized that all the voices were accented American. Had he travelled to America while unconscious? Flashes of memories began playing out in Harry's mind: he was with Snape at Spinner's End—they were on the moor, Snape painting himself in blood and ash and chanting—there was a light that filled the sky to an unnatural brightness—the horrible screaming—

'Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor not an interrogator! I'm not going to put their recovery at risk simply because five minutes is your idea of delayed gratification. Don't you have something else to do besides bug me and my patients? Like, oh, I don't know, go captain the damn ship?'

Ship? Was he on a boat?

'This is part of captaining the damn ship. Starfleet wants that planet, and if there's going to be trouble, I'd rather we know about it now than when we start sending civilians down there to start drilling.'

Harry opened his eyes once more and squinted at the blurry, unfamiliar ceiling. Still too bright.

The people around his bed seemed to be speaking English but he didn't have a clue what they were saying. Starfleet? Planet? Did they mean Earth? He turned his head and could make out a tray of some sort next to his bed holding his glasses. He threw out a hand and grabbed them without too much of a miss. Putting them on, he was relieved when the world came into focus, including the three men standing a short distance from his bed, all dressed in similar form-fitting, coloured uniforms.

'I believe the young one is awake now,' the pale man in one of the blue uniforms said lightly. Harry's fuzzy brain thought he saw the tips of man's ears come to a point. Had he been kidnapped by elves? He was not as up on his elven knowledge as he should be, but he couldn't recall them ever wearing coloured uniforms, or being so tall. He blinked and tried to look again, but the one in the gold shirt bounded forward and blocked his view. He looked entirely human and, Harry thought idly, a pretty nice looking human too.

'Hi,' the golden man said to him with a smile. 'I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise. This is Mr Spock, my First Officer, and this is my Chief Medical Officer, Dr Leonard McCoy.' He moved slightly and gestured to the other two men, who nodded. Harry sat up, looking again at the tall, pale one as he did so and noting that the man really did have pointed ears. Harry got the foreboding sense that he was soon going to learn of yet another gap in his Defence Against the Dark Arts education.

'I...where am I?'

'You're on the Enterprise,' the pretty one—Captain Kirk—replied. 'We found you and your companion on the surface of Tursul Prime. You don't remember?'

Harry whipped his head around to look at where Kirk was pointing. On the bed next to him lay— 'Snape!'

He was out cold but otherwise appeared unharmed. In fact, he looked better than unharmed. The wounds on his neck looked to be completely healed with only slight pink scars left behind, and the runes that once looked like they were going to be forever burned into Snape's skin were nowhere in sight.

'Is he—'

'He'll be fine,' the doctor assured him. 'He's just resting, as you should be doing.'

'What's Tursul Prime?' Harry asked, ignoring the doctor's hint and turning back to Kirk. 'And what's the Enterprise?'

Kirk furrowed his brow and looked back at the elf, who raised his eyebrow and replied, 'Tursul Prime is the largest planet in Beta Vorek system. It is the only Class M planet in the system, although it is uninhabited at the present time.'

'And the Enterprise is my starship,' Kirk took over. 'We're in orbit over Tursul Prime now. I take it you aren't from around here?'

Dr McCoy snorted and Kirk shot him a look.

Harry desperately tried to make sense of what he was being told but it kept getting more confusing. A starship? Like with actual stars? Was this a joke?

'I...I'm from—' He was going to say Britain but suddenly thought maybe that was too specific. '—Earth. Are we no longer on Earth then?'

Kirk opened his mouth to answer but an irritated voice on Harry's other side beat him to the punch.

'Oh, for Merlin's sake, we're in _space_, Potter. On a _space_ ship. The concept isn't that hard to grasp.' All four heads swivelled toward Snape, who was lying perfectly still, but had his eyes open and had apparently been awake for some time. Dr McCoy went to him, waving a stubby wand-like thing over his body.

Snape merely turned his head and cast a disdainful look at Harry, who could feel a comfortable and familiar irritation begin to bubble within him in return. At least there were some constants in the universe, he thought.

'You'll have to forgive me if I'm having a bit of trouble understanding,' Harry snapped. 'Last time I checked, I was in England trying to save your arse from a curse!'

Snape's eyes glimmered dangerously. 'I did tell you I didn't want your help, didn't I? Don't blame me for your compulsive need to save people.'

'Uh, gentlemen?' Kirk tried to cut in, and the tension that had been building between them eased a little when they looked toward the captain. Snape took the opportunity to sit up and swing his legs off the bed.

'Whoa, easy,' McCoy was suddenly at his side. 'I may have patched you up pretty good, but you had some nasty looking wounds on your neck. You need rest.'

Snape shot him a glare. 'I assure you, I feel better than I have in years.'

McCoy tried to place a hand on his shoulder to stop him from getting up but Snape's glare was immediate and severe. The doctor reluctantly took it back and huffed. Harry watched as Snape looked around at the room they were in and at the three men in front of them. 'What is the date?'

'It is stardate 2259.95,' Spock intoned. 'On Earth it would be October 22nd of the year 2259.'

'What?' Harry yelled, suddenly feeling dizzy. 'That's...250 years in the future!'

'Two hundred and sixty one years,' Snape corrected, looking for all the world like he time travelled into the future every day. Harry wanted to hit him.

Kirk and McCoy had both gone wide-eyed at Snape's statement. Spock, Harry noted, didn't seem to have a reaction at all. He wondered if maybe Spock was a robot.

'Great. Just great. Why do we always have to get the time travellers? How exactly did you guys...' Kirk asked faintly.

'I'm afraid it's a bit complicated,' Snape stated.

Kirk straightened up. 'Right, well, I'll get you guys some quarters for the time being, but I think I need to hear this tale from the beginning.'

Harry wasn't even sure what the tale was let alone where the beginning of it was.

'Of course,' Snape nodded, 'Captain.'

Harry stared at him. What was Snape playing at? And the next thing he knew, Kirk and Spock were leading the way out the door over Dr McCoy's protests with Snape in their wake and Harry scrambling off the bed to follow them. As he chased them down a strange hallway filled with even more people in coloured uniforms, Harry reflected that he used to be able to handle universe altering revelations much better when he was a kid.

——-

The windows of the Enterprise were hypnotic. Beyond the glass there were stars. Lots of them. Harry had never seen so many of them so clearly before, and every window of the Enterprise had millions of them. There were different stars out here too. Ones with names he'd never heard of in galaxies he'd never learned. He wondered if wishing on a star out here would be the same as back home.

He sat on the observation deck facing the window, morosely contemplating their predicament. Snape, true to his word, started at the beginning and explained their presence to the captain and Commander Spock. Not only did he divulge the fact that they were wizards, but he talked about the war, the curse, and the Starlight ritual he performed in an attempt to harness the power of light to vanquish the curse, but instead sent them riding along with the starlight 260 years in the future. Instead of the disbelief he always expected from Muggles, these revelations sparked a lively intellectual debate between Snape and Mr Spock about where the spell could've gone wrong. Snape hypothesized that it was the lingering sunlight, which when accidentally harnessed, picked them up and flung them along its path into the future. Spock had a number of other theories, and Harry had quickly tired of their discussions of the minutiae of the timing, location, and phases of the planet's three moons needed to reverse the spell. Snape, Harry noted sourly, had no problem arguing with Spock about complicated magical theory just a half hour after Spock had even learned about the existence of magic.

'Oh, stop sulking.' Harry's head snapped up at the sound of Snape's voice behind him.

'I'm not sulking,' Harry replied automatically, though he sounded petulant even to himself. Snape looked down at him in disbelief but didn't otherwise comment. Instead, he took the chair next to Harry and neatly sat down facing the window.

Snape had changed his clothes since the last time Harry had seen him. Unlike the cleaned robe Harry still wore, Snape was now dressed in the same tight fitting black trousers and high necked black undershirt that the Starfleet officers wore. All he was missing was a coloured tunic. Harry noted that the shirt clung attractively to his chest in a way that heavy Wizarding robes never did, and he would bet his Firebolt that the trousers did similar things for his arse.

Snape shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. 'I asked for a change of clothes and this is what they gave me. It is...comfortable.'

'Ah,' Harry replied, turning back to the window to hide his flushed face. 'I've, er, been looking for home.'

'Don't be ridiculous. From what the Muggles explained to us about our location, we're much too far away to see our own Sun.' Snape looked at him sharply but then seemed to soften. 'One would think with all your adventures you'd be used to landing in unfamiliar places.'

Harry sighed. He'd thought about this a bit while he was sitting here. 'I thought it was over, that things would go back to...normal. After all the fighting and the running and the terror, I just wanted to relax and enjoy what I'd fought for. I'm building a house, back there, and people who matter to me have to be wondering where I am. This,' he waved his hand around the room, 'is not the future I had in mind.'

'It was not in my plans, either.' Snape pressed his lips together for a moment before continuing more thoughtfully. 'But it is, in a way, exactly the future you fought for.'

Harry gave him a confused look and Snape tapped the arm of the chair impatiently.

'How many Muggles would've survived if the Dark Lord had won? And of the ones who did, how many would've thrived enough to make the kind of technological and cultural leaps that this future demands? It seems to me that you're getting a very unique opportunity to see how your work paid off.'

Harry looked around at the observation deck thoughtfully, and a small smile spread across on his face.

'Hey, was that a compliment? Did you actually say I did a good job?'

Snape snorted. 'I did not, you arrogant twit. I merely implied.' Harry could see Snape's mouth twitch in an effort not to smile and a warm glow bloomed in his chest.

'Do you think there are still wizards here? There are all these aliens around, like Mr Spock, but I haven't seen any wizards.'

'We're a tenacious lot, so I would guess there is a Wizarding community somewhere. Perhaps we moved to our own planet at some point. Though the possibility of having killed each other off at some point in the last 260 years is a good one, I'll admit.'

Harry chuckled, and gratified to see Snape almost smile.

'You like it here.' He meant for it to be a question, but as soon as it was out of his mouth he knew it to be true.

'Mmmmm,' Snape hummed in a low voice, 'It is unfamiliar, but not unwelcome.' Snape turned and stared at Harry, his dark eyes glimmering intently. Harry was suddenly struck by the effect of the last 48 hours on Snape's appearance. And not just the steadier gait and the healing of his neck, but the disappearance of the tension and stress that had exuded from every single pore in Snape's body. He no longer held himself so tightly that he looked like he would break, nor did he carry himself as if a single wrong remark would push him over the edge of sanity. For the first time since Harry had met him, Snape looked...free. And it was beautiful.

'It looks good on you,' he remarked in what he hoped was an offhanded fashion. He shifted around so that his chair faced Snape and leant his elbows on his knees.

'What?'

'The uniform. It looks good on you. I meant to say before.' Snape turned and gazed at him like Harry was a bit of a puzzle.

'I...thank you. As I said, it's comfortable.'

Harry felt himself being drawn to Snape almost as if he were compelled by an Imperius Curse. Everything around them—-the stars, the ship, the aliens, the time travel—they all disappeared as his focus narrowed to Snape. He leant in, wanting nothing more than to have those thin lips brush against his own and taste that newfound freedom for himself. Snape's own gaze lingered for a breath on Harry's mouth before he was leaning in too.

At first the press of lips was tentative and uncertain, but Harry savoured each moment, wanting it to go on forever and knowing it wouldn't. He moved to deepen the kiss, sucking Snape's bottom lip into his mouth and coaxing him to open. He did and their tongues mingled and sparred, fighting for the upper hand exactly as they do in every other aspect of their relationship.

Snape broke the kiss, and Harry keened softly at the loss. Their breath mingled in the air between them, and Harry looked up into Snape's dark, startled eyes.

'I...Potter,' Snape cleared his throat. 'I came here earlier because I wanted to tell you that I think I will be staying here.'

'What?' Harry jerked back like he'd been burned. 'What do you mean you'll be staying here?'

Snape shifted and avoided Harry's panicked gaze. He was flushed and every bit as affected by their kiss as Harry was.

'While it was not my intent, my presence here is not an unwelcome change for me. I am pleased with this time period. I like being able to use my magic here without hesitation; I like being able to walk around without wondering who will pop out of the shadows to exact their revenge. I like the thought of living without the collective scorn and revulsion that the majority of the wizards in our world feel for me. Simply put...there is nothing back on Earth for me. Anyone I cared for or who cares for me is long gone.'

'Oh.' The short speech had the equivalent effect of a rather long, cold shower. Harry wondered if he could get hypothermia from words alone.

Snape leaned back in his chair. 'I know you'll want to return to your friends as soon as possible. As I mentioned to the Captain and Commander Spock earlier, I believe we can duplicate the Starlight Ritual on the planet using the light from the closest star as transport.'

'Oh.' Harry repeated dully. Snape stared at him in annoyance.

'Potter, just five minutes ago you were whinging about wanting to go home; I'm making that happen for you.'

'I do. Want to go home, that is. I just thought...well, I thought you'd be coming too.'

'And now I've informed you otherwise.' Snape's voice was cold, distant.

'What about...this. Us?' Harry was aware of the desperation that was creeping into his voice. Snape was going to leave him. After all they'd been through Snape was just going to send him off into the past, and he was going to stay here frolicking in the future.

'There is no "us",' Snape stated with derision, though Harry noted he still wasn't looking him in the eye. 'You have your whole life ahead of you. And this fixation—this pity you have for me—will fade.'

'Oh, for fuck's sake—I don't pity you, you git!' Harry shouted, angry at the familiar accusation. 'Trust me, Snape, I'm feeling many things for you at this moment and pity is not one of them.'

'See that it stays that way.' Snape sniffed and stood up, smoothing down his black clothes as he did so. 'I will create the Starlight ash tonight and we should be able to attempt to send you home tomorrow. I'm told they have some sort of Apparition to get down to the planet's surface without incident. I...I'm sorry.'

Harry stared accusingly until Snape stalked out of the room without a backwards glance. It pained him to note that the trousers did indeed do excellent things for Snape's arse.

———

That night (and how people on a starship decided what was night and what was day when everything outside remained a depressing black vacuum, he didn't know), Harry managed to find the mess hall without getting lost more than twice, and each time he did there was always someone in a uniform who was more than happy to direct him the right way. It seemed that word had spread quickly throughout the ship that he and Snape were from another time and place. But unlike the rampant stares and whispers he faced regularly in the Wizarding World, the people here were nothing less than professional and courteous to him. When he reached the mess and acquired a tray of mostly recognizable food, he headed for an empty table to have himself an epic sulk. Unfortunately, halfway there he attracted the attention of Captain Kirk, who waved and sauntered over.

'Hey!' Kirk cheerfully greeted him, food tray in hand as well.

'Hi, Captain.' He smiled at Kirk's easy enthusiasm.

'Call me Jim.' The captain—Jim—returned the smile and he gestured to the table Harry was heading toward.

'Want company?' Harry didn't particularly; sulking was best done as a solitary activity. On the other hand, Harry felt comfortable with Jim, rather thrilled to be the focus of such intense energy.

'Er, sure,' he finally replied and they took seats opposite each other at the table. Around them people passed and saluted at the captain until he waved them off with a lazy gesture and a grin.

'Jim,' Harry repeated. 'It's, er, a very nice ship you have here.' This was apparently the right thing to say because Jim beamed at him as though he'd single-handedly built the thing himself.

'Thanks. She's something special all right. Best in the fleet, you know. And I don't just say that because I'm painfully in love with her.' Jim winked at him. 'You settling in all right?'

Jim dug into his food with a vengeance as he talked and, although Harry had gone there more for something to do rather than because he wanted food, seeing Jim eat suddenly made him realize that it'd been over a day since his last meal and he was ravenous. He dug into something that looked like mashed potatoes but tasted like mushed peas.

'Yeah. It's interesting.' Harry looked around at all the people in the mess hall. Most of the crew was human, it seemed, but there were aliens, some of whom were startlingly non-human, scattered here and there. One at the next table looked a bit like a goblin, and Harry couldn't help but notice how similar this place was to the Wizarding World in many ways. It may not be magic, but it certainly seemed magical.

'So,' Kirk broke him out of his reverie, 'Wizards, yeah?'

'Er, yeah.' Harry looked at Kirk, whose blue eyes sparked with mischief.

'And you're sure you're from Earth?'

'Yes...' Harry said suspiciously, unsure of where this conversation was going.

'Oh, hey, it's really cool, actually. I mean, you wouldn't believe how many times magic would've come in handy in some tight situations around here. And think of the kind of advantage I would have in a bar fight...'

Kirk took a large bite and kept on talking. 'I ask, see, because Spock and I were talking about it earlier, and I have this theory that I think is kind of interesting. He thinks it might have some of merit, which is saying a lot if you know Spock.' A wry, satisfied grin slid across Kirk's face, and he speared something that looked like green carrots with his fork.

'Er, what kind of theory?' Harry was intrigued despite himself. It was unusual for Muggles to theorize about magic and the magical world. From everything he'd seen, they were either too afraid of it to think about it with any sense or they simply accepted it unquestioningly.

'Ah, well, you see, there's been some excitement recently in the archaeological world about some new evidence suggesting that alien life existed on Earth along side humans for millions of years prior to First Contact.' Jim put his elbows on the table and leant forward as he explained his theory to Harry.

'First Contact?' Harry repeated, and Jim waved him off.

'It's basically when one race decides that another race is ready to have official contact with alien life for the first time. There are qualifications and stuff.' Kirk brandished his fork as he talked. 'They have to be close to having warp drive and be open-minded enough to accept new life. Vulcans, Spock's race, were the ones who initiated contact with Earth.'

Harry nodded, not really understanding but willing to go along with it.

'Anyway, there's pretty decent evidence that alien life existed on Earth long before then, and _I_ think, get this, that that's where wizards come from. If aliens crashed, say, or even came there to study humans, but somehow they decided to or had to stay, integrating themselves into society and bringing their skills—what you think of as magic—along with them. Over time they would've started mating with other humans and would have become more humanoid in appearance while retaining characteristics of their original race. Eventually, these hybrids lost their original alien culture and developed their own new culture alongside humans instead. And, bam! Wizards.'

'So...you think I'm...an alien.' Harry repeated, his brow furrowed. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or be offended.

'Descended from,' Kirk clarified but Harry wasn't sure that made it better. He pulled a face.

'If that was the case, why didn't we keep any of our other alien characteristics besides the magic?'

'Mmmm,' Jim looked him over slowly. 'Well, for all I know you could still have other alien traits. I haven't had the chance to inspect _all_ of your characteristics up close and personal yet.'

Harry flushed at the focused attention Jim was giving him. He licked his lips to stall his response for a moment.

'I assure you I'm human in every way.'

'I dunno. There could be things you overlooked. I could investigate, you know...in the name of science.' Jim tried to project innocent and earnest, but Harry suspected that it'd been years since he'd successfully pulled off the look. And then, Harry couldn't help it; a hysterical giggle bubbled up from the back of his throat and out of his mouth before he had the chance to force it back. The joke wasn't particularly funny, but, perhaps because of the stress of time travelling or because Jim was just so easy to talk to, he found that once he started, he couldn't stop. Jim, for his part, continued to feign offence and confusion, but that only made Harry laugh harder.

He realized they were attracting the attention of others in the mess hall and, after a few minutes, was finally able to get himself back under control. Jim's attention was still focused intently on Harry. He didn't seem to give a damn if the whole place was looking at them, but Harry couldn't help taking a quick look around at the onlookers.

Immediately he wished he hadn't. There, across the hall, Snape stood frozen in front of the entryway. He looked to have come in with Commander Spock but was now staring directly at Harry and Jim. Harry watched as a succession of emotions played across Snape's face—anger, confusion, something Harry couldn't quite place—and then he caught Snape's eye and Snape flushed and looked away. Harry tensed, wondering if he should get up and go over to him, but Snape turned, said something short to Spock, and left the hall.

Harry ignored the twisting pain in his gut that accompanied all his interactions with Snape and turned back to Jim, who was giving him a raised eyebrow.

'You ok?'

'I...yeah, I'm good.' He looked down at his half eaten meal. 'And I'm done here, I think,' he said, pushing it away. Jim, who'd made a considerably larger dent in his own dinner, cocked a smile and pushed his own tray away.

'You want me to walk you back to your quarters? It can be kind of confusing to find...' Jim tilted his head slightly and the light played beautifully off his cheekbones. He really was very pretty. Harry pushed Snape out of his mind and nodded, unwilling to dwell on something that he would never be able to have.

'I'd like that. Thanks.'

As they walked along the corridors, Jim pointed out particularly interesting parts of the ship's geography and entertained him with far-fetched stories of the Enterprise's adventures. Once or twice he caught the captain stroking bits of the bulkhead lovingly as they walked.

They reached his quarters with only a few interruptions from crew members needing Jim for business.

'Er, thanks.' Harry said again as they stood at the door. He felt like an awkward teenage girl on a date. 'Do you want to come in for a bit?'

'Sure.' Jim smiled and they walked through the automatic doors. Harry wasn't entirely sure of what he was doing but Jim didn't seem to care. Without giving Harry too much time to think, he invaded Harry's personal space and kissed him deeply. Unlike the tentative brush that he shared with Snape, this kiss was firm, confident. Jim pulled back slightly, but Harry followed, wanting more.

That was apparently all the encouragement Jim needed because he groaned and pressed Harry back against the bulkhead beside the door, deepening the kiss. He brought a hand up to Harry's face and stroked his thumb down his cheek. Harry pressed his body against Jim's, feeling Jim's hard cock through his black uniform trousers. Jim broke the kiss to move his mouth lower, nipping and sucking at Harry's jaw and throat. Harry closed his eyes and tipped his head back to give him better access.

Suddenly Jim pulled Harry forward and they were moving and kissing in a slow dance toward the bed. The backs of Harry's knees hit the edge of the bed and he fell, Jim coming with him. The shock of Harry's head hitting the mattress, caused him to open his eyes. Jim's face loomed over him, flushed and red. He looked completely fuckable, but the more Harry looked at him the more he realized that it felt all wrong. Jim was neither tall enough nor thin enough. His hair was too wiry and short, his eyes too blue.

In short, he wasn't Severus Snape.

'Wait—' Harry gasped when Jim tried to resume their kiss. 'I—I can't—'

'What?' Jim stopped and looked at him in confusion. 'We're kind of just getting to the good part here.'

'I'm sorry.' Harry looked away. 'I—I don't think I can do this.'

'Was it something I said?' Jim rolled off of Harry and sat on the edge of the bed.

'No! It just...wouldn't be right. I'm sort of...in love with someone else.' Harry adjusted his glasses and looked sadly at Jim.

'Ah.' Kirk looked disappointed but he got up off the bed and straightened his tunic. 'Your friend, Severus?' Harry nodded forlornly.

'He doesn't feel the same way about me, but it still doesn't feel right to be with someone else.

'Well,' Jim said, with a kind smile, 'he doesn't know what he's missing.' Harry tried to smile back at him, but it didn't reach his eyes.

'I'll let you get some sleep. Big day tomorrow after all.' Jim walked to the door and gave Harry one last long look before sauntering out as easily as he came in.

Harry flopped morosely back on his bed and stared at the ceiling above his bunk for a long while.

——-

Snape, Harry, Spock, and Kirk beamed down to Tursul Prime the next day as its sun began to set. Harry had to admit that, despite the questionable skill of the manic Scot at the controls, it was a much nicer way of travel than Apparating. At the very least, it hurt his ears a lot less.

Snape was completely silent during the walk toward the transporter room. He looked on the verge of saying something to Harry while they waited to beam down, but apparently decided against it when Jim walked into the room with Spock. Harry couldn't keep the blush off his face and opted for ducking his head when Jim winked at him. Beside him, Snape stiffened and thinned his lips in anger before climbing on the transporter pad and ignoring all of them.

The planet itself, where Jim said they were discovered, looked very different from Earth. The light was more yellow for one thing. Dramatic cliffs and valleys dominated the landscape; all of which were covered with a dull yellow dirt. Harry couldn't find any evidence of plants or water. The sun was setting in a brilliant reddish purple behind them, while two moons rose up from the other horizon. Snape seemed to believe that they could use the planet's setting sun in much the way that they had used Earth's to slingshot Harry back to his own time.

'Potter, I'm going to set up the ritual, but this is something you will need to perform. Have you memorized the incantation?'

'Er, yeah,' Harry said, pulling his wand out of his pocket. When sleep wouldn't come last night after Jim left, he spent the time going over the runes and the incantations he needed to draw the runes and activate them. Hermione would've been proud of his diligence, even if it was fuelled by insomnia.

'Is there anything you need us to do?' Jim asked, looking hesitantly between Snape and Harry. Spock stood silently next time him looking on with detached interest.

'No, thank you. It would be best if you stood several metres away, however.'

Harry looked at Jim and Spock. 'Er, I guess this is good bye. It was good to meet you both.'

Jim gave him a grin. 'It was good to meet you too. If you're ever out this way again, you look us up, yeah?' Harry nodded.

Spock held his hand up in a funny 'V' shape. 'It's the tradition of my people to bid friends good bye with the phrase "live long and prosper". Live long and prosper, Harry Potter.'

Harry tried to copy the way Spock held his hand and mostly succeeded. 'Live long and prosper, Commander Spock. It was good to meet you.'

Jim and Spock stepped back as the last rays of the sun were touching the horizon.

Snape pulled out the silver knife from his satchel and a test tube of ashes. At Harry's curious look he explained, 'I appear to have lost the original phial when we first travelled here. Spock was kind enough to lend me this.'

Harry nodded. He tried to take the phial from Snape, but it was pulled out of his way before he could get it.

'Potter, you need to be the one who bleeds this time.' Snape handed the knife handle out to Harry.

'Oh. Right.' Harry turned and was about to cut himself when he looked up at Snape and realized he couldn't go without saying something.

'I guess this is good bye for us too.'

Snape nodded tersely. 'As it should be.'

'I...' Harry knew he ought to say something more but wasn't sure what that something was.

'Good luck with your life,' Snape offered before he could get anything else out. 'You...deserve it.' The small compliment implied in that statement made Harry smile sadly.

'Yeah, good luck with the new century. I hope...it makes you happy. You deserve it too.' With that, he took the knife in his hand and sliced the blade cleanly through his palm. The blood welled up quickly and he exchanged the knife with Snape for the test tube of ashes. He watched his blood drip slowly into the tube and couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't how it should be. Snape didn't belong in the 23rd century no matter how great it seemed to be.

'You're wrong, you know,' Harry burst out, suddenly needing Snape to know, needing him to at least understand before they never saw each other again. 'You're wrong that there's no one left on Earth to care about you. _I_ care about you.' Snape looked startled by his outburst but Harry forged on.

'And don't think it's out of obligation or pity or whatever. I care because you're...you. I...love you.' He was burning now. He couldn't help it, but Snape at least needed to know how he felt. That he wasn't leaving a world where there was nothing for him even if the only thing for him was Harry.

Snape observed him uncomfortably. 'I appreciate the sentiment, but you seem to have no problem moving on quickly enough.' He glanced at Jim and Harry knew he was referring to last night in the cafeteria.

'I...he's nice. Funny.' Harry started. 'He's not you.'

'Be that as it may, it just goes to show that you will get along fine without me.' Snape's face was passive, but his eyes burned brighter than Harry had ever seen them. Snape shifted uncomfortably before saying softly, 'Potter, your hand.'

'What?'

'Your hand is dripping blood all over the place.' Oh. Harry looked down and saw that he'd filled the test tube and had let the rest of the blood cover his palm and drip down his arm. With a roll of his eyes, Snape took out his wand and passed it over the cut.

'Good bye, Harry.' Snape murmured, looking Harry up and down once more as though he was memorizing his image before walking back to stand near Jim and Spock.

Harry took the tube and began the process of drawing the runes on his face and body. He was careful to keep to the same spots Snape had done and chant exactly as he remembered Snape doing. When he finished he took his wand in hand and began the incantation:

_Astrum lumen purgo. Astrum lumen vigoratus._

He looked at Snape while he chanted instead of the stars. The stars would be there when he got back, but this was the last time he'd get to see Snape. The magic, once again, swirled around him, closing in tighter and tighter with each chant. He felt the runes on his face begin to burn. He stumbled only once in the chant when the stars above began to glow brighter in the sky and the sunset behind him seemed to re-emerge from beyond the horizon. The runes on his face heated up until they felt like branding irons. The pain built higher and higher until it blinded him to anything else. He dropped the test tube to the ground as he was caught in the starlight's fire. His soul was being ripped from his body through the runes on his face, he just knew it. He wouldn't survive this. He had no idea how Snape had, but he couldn't.

Long, hoarse screams surrounded him, and he thought maybe he was the one screaming, but he couldn't think of much beyond the searing starlight that flowed around him and through him. His face felt wet—wet, metallic something dripping into his mouth as he yelled against the magic that threatened to rip him apart. He couldn't take much more. It was too much. Too consuming.

Just as he gave in to the bright magic, a solid, sudden weight forced itself against his body and the force flowing through him faltered, ebbing and surging wildly.

Harry let loose one final long scream, and then there was nothing.

——-

He'd been run over by a hippogriff. No...maybe he'd fallen off his broom from several hundred feet and Professor Dumbledore didn't get a chance to slow his fall this time. No...he'd ridden a bucking dragon and been trampled after he'd been thrown off. No...he'd fought Death Eaters and been subjected to hours of the Cruciatus Curse. No...

'Nnnnuuuuuuuugh.' His cheek smooshed into something soft, scratchy, and damp. His glasses were gone and when he tried to open his eyes he realized that it was dark. He was outside. And lying in...grass, he concluded. Harry tried to assess his injuries but there wasn't a bone, muscle, ligament, or tissue in his body that didn't hurt, and he wasn't entirely sure he'd ever be able to move. The grass was cool and cushioning though. Perhaps he could lie here forever. He closed his eyes again and got to work on it. It was an excellent plan.

'Potter.' A gravelly voice next to him interrupted his attempt. He was Potter, yes. Someone was calling him. Someone familiar.

'Nnnnuuuugggggh,' Harry answered succinctly.

'Potter,' the voice said again. Annoying, Harry thought. Didn't it know that he was planning on lying here forever? 'Potter—Harry, can you hear me?'

Harry opened his eyes again to see a shadowy figure above him.

'Here,' the figure said and glasses were placed on his nose. A pair of piercing dark eyes came into focus above him. Snape. Snape looked awfully concerned for him though. Did he have something to do with why Harry couldn't move? He started to close his eyes again but memories began dancing to the front of his mind.

They'd gone away for a while. To another planet. On a starship. He'd met people. Aliens. He'd kissed Snape. And the captain—Jim. But Snape wasn't supposed to be here, Harry's sluggish mind supplied. He was supposed to be on that other planet, far away from Harry.

'Where—wha—uuuhgh.' Harry tried. His eyes were really heavy. The shadow of Snape moved away and a moonlit sky dominated Harry's view. A sea of cheeky stars winked at him too, but they were familiar stars. Stars he'd studied and wished on for years.

He moved his head and looked to his side where Snape was sitting on the grass examining him. Harry ignored the ridiculousness of Snape sitting casually on grass, and instead focused on the more important question.

'We're...home?' He needed confirmation even if everything felt right enough. Snape nodded.

'Are you real?' Snape glared. Harry took that as an affirmative.

Snape held up a glass phial and Harry recognized it as the phial they used in the first ritual. The blood inside was still liquid. 'It appears we returned to exactly the moment we left.'

'How...' He wasn't sure what question he wanted to ask. How was he not dead? How was Snape here? How was he ever going to get up off this grass?

Snape tipped his head forward, his hair obscuring his face.

'The ritual wasn't working as it should've. It attempted to rip apart a curse you didn't have and required an additional grounding power. The light then picked us both up as it had before. I should have anticipated—' Snape cut himself off.

'Oh.' That...sort of made sense. If Harry didn't think about it too hard. 'But you wanted to stay...Wait, you saved me again.'

'Potter.' Snape said, voice exasperated and sharp. 'Stop making me something I'm not.'

'I'm not,' Harry protested. 'I'm just seeing you as you deserve to be seen. As a good person. Why is that so hard to accept?' He tried make his arm work well enough to reach out and touch Snape. He managed to flop it around a bit until he got it on Snape's knee. Warm and dry, Harry revelled in the contact and hoped his hand wouldn't get shoved off.

'I'll work on it,' Snape replied drily. He softened his sarcasm by covering Harry's hand lightly with his own. They sat that way for a few minutes, Snape brushing his thumb along Harry's wrist. Harry watched the stars above him and wondered if Snape would agree to stay with him while he carried out his plan to lie on the grass forever. Finally, he looked backed to Snape, who was busy watching him instead of the stars. A slow curl of arousal wound its way through Harry's sore body and he smiled.

'You're a foolish boy.'

Harry grinned. 'Yeah, but you like me anyway.' Snape snorted.

'Foolish and arrogant.' He squeezed Harry's hand nonetheless and the warmth from their joined hands spread through Harry's aching bones and damp clothes. A question niggled in the back of his mind.

'Can you go back?' he asked uncertainly. Snape was silent for a minute.

'It might be possible. Given the changing astronomical conditions I might not end up in the same space or exactly the same time. I would need to do further research on how exactly we travelled to where we did.'

Harry nodded.

'However,' Snape continued somewhat hesitantly, 'I've been told that there are things on this planet that are still worth exploring...people who still care for me. I plan on exploring that as much as I can.'

'Yeah?' Harry's leaned up onto his elbow, his heart soaring.

'Yes, Harry.'

With that, Snape leaned over and kissed him gently on the mouth, a kiss full of hope and promise that left Harry giddy and awed. When they broke apart Harry looked toward the sky and saw two shooting stars sail toward the earth. It occurred to him to make a wish, but in that moment he couldn't think of anything he didn't already have.


End file.
